Lower net immigration has contributed most to the slowing but births have also fallen

In fact, on a sequential basis, population growth already looks to have dipped towards 1¼% at end 2014 in annualised terms.

The slowing in population growth has been most pronounced in the mining states of Western Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory.

These states have also seen sharp slowings in 457 visa (Temporary Work (Skilled)) applications which allow recipients to stay in Australia for up to four years.

This indicates that slower economic activity and reduced job opportunities in these states has been an important reason for the overall slowing in net immigration.

This has taken pressure off unemployment from rising faster than it has in these states.

Historically, swings in population growth have tended to lag changes in economic momentum.

To illustrate, population growth has typically slowed as the unemployment rate has risen, and vice-versa (the one exception being the late 1980s where population growth slowed in advance of the economic cycle).

From a labour market perspective, slower population growth can be thought of as ‘shock absorber’.

It limits upward pressure on the unemployment rate to the extent that it reflects a slower rise in the supply of available workers.

A large share of the slowing in net immigration has been among the prime working age (25-44 year olds).

Fewer arrivals British and other European citizens in this age bracket have accounted for half of the decline in permanent and long-term arrivals to Australia since 2012.

The outlook for population growth

Population growth is expected to slow a little further in the near term as lags from slower economic activity feed through.

Over the next five years, it seems likely that population growth will average 1¼-1½% per annum (the RBA is now assuming 1½% over the next few years).

This would be much slower than growth experienced in recent years but still faster than the 1.1% per annum average growth rate from 1992 to 2006.

As net immigration slows, nearly half of Australia’s population growth is again likely to come from natural increase, although this is also slowing.

Natural Increase

The number of births has moderated again in recent years after a brief spurt and is expected to slow further.

The contribution of natural increase – births less deaths – to population growth steadily declined over time until the mid 2000s (Figure 2).

More births then supported population growth as the number of 25-34 year old females – those with the highest fertility rates – rose sharply after being little changed for more than a decade (Figure 13).

The number of births and natural increase in the population is already slowing.

It will slow further as much weaker growth over the past five years in the number of 20-24 year old females will result in slower growth in the population of 25-34 year old females.

Net Immigration

Unless there is a persistent improvement in labour market conditions, it is difficult to see net immigration increasing in the foreseeable future.

While some further slowing in net immigration is expected in the near term, we expect it to then stabilise due to:

(i) fewer outflows to New Zealand;

(ii) a still high official immigration programme; and

(iii) strong international student inflows.

First, the relative strength of the New Zealand economy, which has resulted in a small outflow of people from Australia across the Tasman, is diminishing.

The jobless rate in New Zealand has increased recently amid more moderate economic activity and the increase in labour supply (Figure 14).

This could see at least a stabilisation in net immigration between Australia and New Zealand if not some turnaround.

Secondly, the intake under Australia’s official Migration Programme has been kept at 190,000 persons for 2015-16.

While this level of official migration in recent years has not prevented net immigration from moderating, it will limit its rate of decline by, to some extent, putting a floor under immigration levels (Figure 15).

As long as students satisfy the ‘12/16’ rule they are counted as residents for population purposes and many stay in Australia after graduation.

The number of international student commencements has reached the previous peak in 2009 when its contribution to net immigration peaked at around 120K persons per annum (Figure 16).

Department of Immigration forecasts, which appear broadly on track, suggest a similarly large contribution to NOM over the next few years which would add 0.4ppts to annual population growth. (Students may add less to potential labour supply than other immigrants, however, as they are limited to working 20 hours per week while studying.)

This trend is being supported by the weaker Australian dollar, streamlined policies towards overseas students and rule changes that allow overseas students to extend their stay for two to four years upon graduation under a Temporary Graduate visa.

Potential growth and interest rates

In the medium-term, one implication of slower population growth is lower potential output growth through weaker growth in both demand and supply.

Given the aging population, potential labour supply growth would be even slower absent a persistent increase in labour force participation.

Assuming annual productivity growth around its long-run average of 1½%, potential output growth could fall closer to 2¾% per annum over the medium term, well below the 3–3¼% widely assumed previously.

Housing demand

One source of slower potential output growth is that slowing population growth would, over time, reduce underlying demand for housing.

While several years of underbuilding means that there remains excess demand for housing, particularly in the Sydney property markets, smaller increases in the population will eventually result in weaker housing demand.
In this regard, relatively small changes in population growth matter for housing demand.

For example, annual population growth of 1¼% would add around 125k less people per annum to the population compared with growth of 1¾% (Figure 18).

Michael is a director of Metropole Property Strategists who help their clients grow, protect and pass on their wealth through independent, unbiased property advice and advocacy. He's once again been voted Australia's leading property investment adviser and his opinions are regularly featured in the media. Visit Metropole.com.au

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